December 25, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 20, 1423

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SRINAGAR, Dec 24: Indian troops claimed killing nine Mujahideen in occupied Kashmir on Tuesday. Four civilians also died in the held state, police said.

Sixteen people were wounded in a bomb attack on a bar in Rajouri, near the Line of Control, a police spokesman said.

The four dead civilians included a police constable’s father and brother, who were shot dead in the Rajouri district. Two Muslim villagers were killed in the Udhampur district.

A newly-elected coalition government in Srinagar has vowed to bring peace to the occupied territory, where more than a dozen groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Syed said in a statement that some people were trying to derail his government’s peace efforts, but they would “not succeed in their nefarious designs”.

It was not immediately clear if there was a link between the bar bombing and what police say are militant threats to punish anyone defying Shariat laws, such as prohibitions on alcohol and cigarettes and requirements for women to wear veils.—Reuters